Chalvar Monteiro

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Chalvar Monteiro has known he wanted to be an Ailey dancer since he was a young student. And the New Jersey native fought hard for that childhood dream: He auditioned for the company seven times before being offered a contract, making him living proof that persistence pays off.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is based in New York, but in Miami it's had a hometown aura since Liberty City-raised artistic director Robert Battle took the helm in 2011. The company just finished its annual visit to the Adrienne Arsht Center on Sunday, and - with a spotlight on "Moonlight" and its Liberty City creators - this seems like a good time to look at what the troupe's performances say about Battle's leadership.

Robert Battle, artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, was prepping for an interview a few years ago and figured that, as head of a storied African-American troupe, he'd be asked yet again about black dance. So he called longtime mentor Carolyn Adams, one of modern dance's few black performers during her time with the Paul Taylor Dance Company.